Man United's Ferguson rejects 2012 Olympics job

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has ruled out coaching a British soccer team at the 2012 London Olympics.

The 67-year-old Scot held informal talks last year about the role with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, but said he does not want another job.

"No. I won't turn to international management," Ferguson said Friday in the club's magazine, Inside United. "When I've finished here, I think I deserve a rest. After here, I'm finished."

Ferguson, who would be 70 when the Olympics begin, does not even believe there will be a combined British team at the games.

Despite assurances from FIFA, the football associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fear that their independent status in the world game would be jeopardized if they agree to take part.

Britain, an Olympic football gold medalist in 1900, 1908 and 1912, would have a men's team for the first time since the 1956 Olympics and a women's team for the first time ever.